New Delhi, Sept 16: External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj will be leading the Indian delegation to the 71st session of the UNGA and she is scheduled to deliver her address on September 26. The issue of Balochistan is likely to be raised during the UN General Assembly later this month, September, in New York.

India on Wednesday raised the Pakistan’s human rights violations issue in Balochistan at UN in Geneva. India raised the issue while responding to the charges on the recent issue in Kashmir. Islamabad had also raised the issue of Kashmir unrest and human rights violations taking place in India at the UNHRC.

India in response to Pakistan’s charges said, “Pakistan has alleged human rights violations in India. Our credentials as a peaceful, democratic, pluralistic society that is deeply committed to the welfare of its people are well established. On the contrary, Pakistan is characterized by authoritarianism, absence of democratic norms and widespread human rights violations across the country, including Balochistan. The institutions of governance in Pakistan have corroded to such an extent that it has become a hub for the global export of terror.”

India likely to raise Balochistan issue during UNGA

India, started off by saying- Pakistan had once again tried to mask its own territorial ambitions and the use of terrorism as a policy of the state, under the garb of human rights concern. “This is a country, which has systematically abused and violated the human rights of its own citizens, including in Balochistan, as well as of the people of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. While advocating restraint to others, it has no hesitation in using air power against its own people,” said India.

India’s response at the UNHRC follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statements at the meeting of all-party and also the statements during Independence Day of India.

Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Tehmina Janjua, said, J&K is an international issue which is recognized by a number of UNSC resolutions. She further added, “Despite the broad-based indigenous nature of the latest uprising … India continues to cast aspersions on its indigenous nature. But this is hardly surprising as it is the characteristic of oppressive regimes to label those struggling for their rights as terrorists.”

The MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said,“Till the time Balochistan faces repression, and human rights violations continue there, India will raise this issue,”. He said it when a question on India raising the Balochistan issue was asked at the United Nations Rights Council in Geneva.
The statement came soon after a day India raised the issue before UN. India, also accused Pakistan of violating human rights in Balochistan as well as in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Polio workers have come under attack on several occasions since it was revealed that the CIA used a polio vaccination campaign as a ruse to get information on Osama bin Laden, who was killed by U.S. commandos in Pakistan in 2011.Those revelations fed into claims by Islamic extremists that the vaccinations are part of a Western plot against Muslims.

An official in Pakistan’s restive Mohmand Agency, Younus Khan, said two workers from the seven-member polio vaccination team went missing after the attack but later returned unharmed. He says security forces are still searching for the attackers.

Jamaatul Ahrar, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed the attack.

Khan said the bodies of the polio workers were handed over to relatives and their funeral will take place later in the day.